Sony’s PS6 handheld is yet to be a confirmed device that will actually make it to market, but recent leaks add further evidence to the rumor, with Sony reportedly prepping the handheld by telling developers to patch low-power support into their games. This wouldn’t be the first time a rumor popped up about Sony working on a low-power mode for its consoles. Earlier this year, it was rumored that Sony would make PS5 games playable on the upcoming PS6 handheld by developing a “low-power mode” for the games to take advantage of. This was after reports about the handheld’s performance being somewhere between the ROG Ally X and PS4 Pro.
A low-power mode would allow the handheld to run games that are more intensive on resources. Realistically, it’s a method that should work and would hopefully aid in extending the battery life. Current handhelds, save for the Nintendo Switch 2 and the older Nintendo Switch, don’t exactly last for long periods of time when playing modern games. A low-power mode for Sony’s upcoming handheld wouldn’t just make it possible to play PS5 games ; it should also help the handheld last longer between charges.
The low-power mode for the PS6 handheld will have a lower resolution for games
The leak, which comes from Moore’s Law is Dead on YouTube, suggests several interesting new details about the upcoming handheld. This includes information about Sony turning the low-power mode into a mode for lower resolution and lower core count, as well as lower clock speeds that support new CPU architectures. Sony’s low-power mode wouldn’t need to support new CPU architectures unless Sony was working on something that would need to make use of it.
This new bit of information, paired with past rumors about the handheld, makes it pretty clear (unofficially, of course) that the PS6 handheld is in development. Sony is also reportedly telling devs that they need to make sure their games are capable of running on only eight CPU threads . This is another nod to the low core count for this mode. The PS6 handheld is said to run on 4 Zen 6c cores , which have 8 threads. So, it all seems to be lining up.
